


Control

by hypereuni



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 22:24:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13374297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypereuni/pseuds/hypereuni
Summary: Adrien wishes that someone else other than his father would take control of his life. The woman with the mask inside his dreams does just that. The problem is, she seems really familiar--he just can't quite put his finger on who he thinks she looks like. Slow burn. AU.





	1. Control

"Please, my Lady," he begged, arching his back against her ankle. "Please."

She smirked.

She caressed his cheek, running a gloved finger down the side of his face, and leaned closer. He could feel her breath ghosting his skin. One of her ribbons tickled his bare throat and shoulders.

She slowly unfastened the first three buttons of his white nightshirt. He could feel the coolness of her fingers through the thin fabric as they slid slowly, agonizingly, to the next button, and he whimpered. "Please," he started to say, shifting his body towards her, the half-open shirt exposing one shoulder—

"Stay," she snapped irritably. He froze. Had he done something wrong? He looked up at her, dark eyes wide, and her stern gaze softened. He felt her fingers gently comb his hair, and he relaxed under her touch and closed his eyes, sighing contentedly. He felt her fingers undo the next button and forced himself to remain still, although he internally trembled with pleasure.

"Bon minou," she whispered in his ear, and he moaned softly.


	2. The Gift

12 hours earlier:

"Nino. What are you doing here?" Adrien hissed. He looked down the hallway to see if anyone was watching before dragging his bespectacled friend into his dressing room. "What were you thinking?I need to get ready in 15 minutes, the show's about to start in an hour-OW!" Nino grinned and slapped him on the back again.

"Adrien, breathe. Relax, you got this." Nino said. "Hold on, it's Alya." He pulled out his phone, looked at the screen for a few seconds before shrugging. He shoved it back into his jeans. "Anyway," he said, now digging deep into his coat, "we won't be able to see you until after the winter break so I thought I'd drop in and wish you luck AND give you our presents. For Monsieur Agreste." he produced two movie tickets with a flourish and an exaggerated bow. "That's from Alya, by the way," he added.

"Thanks, Nino, but you really didn't have to," Adrien said. He frowned. "But why did you get me two tickets?" Nino waggled his eyebrows and Adrien groaned.

"Dude, you need to get out of that pokey mansion and live a little. I mean, you got the looks, the money, everything!"

"So?"

"So? My man, you're on your way to becoming a very single and very bitter cat lady."

"Well, not my fault that Plagg scratched you the last time you came to visit. You did steal the last piece of Camembert."

"See? What kind of fricking cat eats expensive cheese? And what kind of OWNER supplies their cat with BARRELS of the stuff? I bet one barrel costs at least one month's rent. How much does he eat in a day anyway? Like an eighth of a wheel, right?"

"...More like a whole wheel."

"This is worse than I thought. You better be grateful that you have me to pull you out of this madness."

"...Nino, what are you up to." Nino slapped Adrien's shoulder. "We," he said, hitting Adrien in the same place again with greater emphasis, "are going to help you rev up your nonexistent sex life." He paused. "Well, I am," he conceded. "Alya just thinks that you need to meet new people." Adrien sputtered. "Let's face it, the one romance you've had was what, in middle school?"

"Chloe and I were just friends," Adrien muttered. He shot Nino a dirty look which Nino ignored.

"Whatever. The point is, you're having trouble dating girls, right? The movie tickets are going to help you with that part. But seriously, we need to get you laid."

"How does that even make any sense? How does me getting, uh,-"

"Laid," Nino interjected helpfully. Adrien flushed.

"Erm, yeah," Adrien finally stuttered. "Uh, laid." Nino beamed like a proud parent. "How are you going to help me with that all the way from BARBADOS?" "And here I thought you'd never ask!" Nino said cheerfully. "Merry Christmas, Adrikins." He slipped an envelope into Adrien's vest pocket. "Don't you dare open it. Just sleep with it under your pillow, okay?"

"Wait, Nino-"

"Shit, Alya's getting pissed. I'll call you at the airport."

"Nino-"

"Seriously, gotta go. Break a leg! Also," Nino poked his head back in. "Sweet dreams." He winked. The door slammed after him.

* * *

 

**AN: Don't worry, Marinette and Ladybug will show up soon. Heh. Reviews are very much appreciated! I aim to improve my writing as much as I c** an.


	3. The Envelope

Adrien looked doubtfully at the fabric envelope in his hand. Nino was usually careless about packaging his gifts—Nino's go-to gift wrap was usually a brown paper bag, with a cheap stick-on ribbon bow if he was feeling extra fancy—but this year, he had evidently pulled no stops. Even Gabriel Agreste, snob extraordinaire, would be forced to agree that the material used for the fabric envelope was exquisite: black watered silk, patterned with what looked like little yin-yang symbols. The flap was fixed by an elaborate black knot adorned with black tassels that had little jade beads. It certainly wasn't Nino's style, and Adrien idly wondered where in the world Nino would have gone to procure his gift.

Unable to help himself, he gave the package a little shake. Something shifted inside the sleeve. Huh. Curiosity piqued, he shook it again. Whatever was inside seemed small, smooth, Adrien decided, bouncing the package on his palm. Thin. He frowned. What on earth was it? Was it made of metal? Stone? He held the envelope up to his face, but the fabric was too thick for the light to outline whatever was inside.

Shit. Now he really, really wanted to open it. His fingers itched to open the little tasseled clasp but—'Don't open it,' Nino's voice singsonged in his ear. Adrien scowled and shoved his gift back into his vest pocket.

Nino, Adrien thought ruefully to himself, really knew him too well.

A knock from the door startled him from his thoughts, and Adrien hastily stuffed the envelope back into his pocket. The door opened and his father's perfectly coiffed head popped in.

"Adrien? You're up in thirty minutes," Gabriel said shortly. "Try not to make a fool of yourself this time around. Have I made myself clear?"

Adrien felt his face flush. The last runway he walked on was a complete disaster. He had been staying up for the two days before the show to finish his paper on quantum electromagnetism while still recovering from a bad case of the flu; the lack of sleep, coupled with the numerous cups of coffee Alya had poured down his throat the days prior, did horrible things to his sense of balance. A sleep-deprived Adrien Agreste hopped up on Tylenol and caffeine, the people watching discovered (to his mortification), was the equivalent of a drunk woman tottering on high heels. Nino still had a few video clips of it on his phone that he used for blackmail material from time to time. Needless to say, Gabriel Agreste was not pleased. Of course, none of this would have happened if Gabriel had agreed to use another model for the show, but Gabriel had adamantly refused. "If you're still able to go to université, then you should still be able to model," was his rejoinder when Adrien, sneezing intermittently, had asked him in person a few days before the show.

"Crystal," Adrien muttered through clenched teeth. "Yes, père," he said aloud more deferentially. Gabriel didn't seem to notice the difference.

"Excellent," his father said absently, glancing down at his watch. "Léo's running late, so you'll just have to switch places with him and go first. And take that thing out of your vest, it's going to ruin the material." He glanced at the bulge in Adrien's vest before closing the door with a definite clang. Adrien sighed, but took the little envelope out of his pocket and placed it in front of the vanity mirror.

"Wish me luck," he told Nino's gift. "I'll be back later."


	4. The Stranger in the Bedroom

The fashion show went fantastically. Adrien had performed flawlessly on stage, and was able to get Gabriel's reluctant permission to skip the after-party on the pretense of a sudden headache. He had then gone home, fed Plagg (who hissed and looked up at him reproachfully when he was presented with Xtra-Fancy Feline Nibbles instead of the usual Camembert) washed off the remaining traces of makeup and stumbled into bed. He had very nearly forgotten the gift that Nino had given him. He had abandoned it on top of the desk in his dressing room the first time; the second time, he had left it in his coat that he had tossed in the foyer before heading off to take a shower. Limbs already heavy with fatigue and barely functioning, he had rummaged through his coat to find the dratted thing and tuck it underneath his pillow before sagging into a boneless heap on top of his rumpled sheets.

Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

* * *

 

"Hey. Hey, kid."

Adrien grumbled and turned over his right side.

"Psst."

Eyes still closed, Adrien swatted away the irritating hand on his shoulder. Someone sighed, and then-" _Mrrrwwrrrww_."

That did it. Adrien emerged from the blankets, blond hair sticking up in impossible directions.

"Plagg?" He croaked, looking at the dark shadowy mass at the foot of his bed. Another angry meow sounded and he rubbed away the grit clinging to his eyelashes. He had to feed Plagg, he thought, and he groped around to turn on the light switch.

Except...there was a man sitting at the bottom of his bed.

 _ **A man**_.

Adrien's thought processes screeched to a halt. He opened his mouth, but a hand clamped down and muffled the shriek bubbling in his throat.

"Don't panic," the man hissed close to his ear. He was obviously not French; his accent was unmistakably foreign. It sounded oddly familiar, but Adrien couldn't put a name to this particular voice. "If it makes you feel better, you're still dreaming, kid."

Yeah, _**no**_. That didn't sound the least bit creepy _**at all**_.

Adrien struggled against the man's iron-clad grip and the man groaned. "I really didn't want to resort to this," he heard the man mumble. With the hand that wasn't on Adrien's mouth, the man snapped his fingers; thin black rope magicked itself into existence and bound Adrien tightly. Almost as if it were an afterthought, a white ribbon appeared a few seconds later and wound itself around Adrien's mouth, gagging him efficiently.

The man sat back on his haunches to observe his work. He was slender and pointy, all elbows and knobby knees, but he moved with lithe, almost feline grace. He was dressed in a tight black leather jumpsuit with a little bell jingling merrily at his throat.

In short, he looked like the textbook definition of a pervert and Adrien didn't know what to make of it.


	5. Your Guardian Angel

**AN: Yes, I'm giving you two chapters in one day, and this is my longest chapter yet. School is starting in a few days, so hopefully this will tide you over until the next time I decide to update.**

* * *

 

"Look, pretty boy," the man sighed, twirling the leather belt around his waist like a lasso. "I just want to talk to you. We need to go over the rules."

Oh, _**hell no**_. Adrien's eyes widened and he began struggling against his bonds again. He didn't quite understand how the man got past security and Plagg (speaking of which, where was the little monster?), but in no way was he about to be a part of some weird sex-bondage play with a lunatic in a catsuit.

The man in black looked quizzically at him; it took him a few seconds to understand Adrien's frantic body language. The man then groaned, face twisting in a moue of distaste.

"I can't believe how dirty your virgin mind is," Cat-man muttered. "Kids these days." He smacked Adrien on the shoulder with his belt. The man obviously had a thing for leather. "Why do I always get the slow ones? I bet Tikki's having a better time with her choice," the man grumbled to himself before looking at Adrien. "I'm not here to harm you in any way," the man said slowly, as if talking to a particularly dense child. Adrien gave him a skeptical look, and the man huffed. "Brat, I'm a busy man, and we're running out of time. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you'll get to meet the girl. Now do you want me to give you the rundown or not?"

Adrien gave him the stink-eye but nodded grudgingly. It seemed like the man really wasn't a sexual deviant or a kidnapper, and besides, it seemed like tacitly agreeing to the man's demands was the safest thing to do at the moment.

"About time," came the snide reply. "Now be a good boy and don't do anything stupid like scream. I'm already running late as it is and I really don't want to work overtime modifying memories. _Capice_?" Adrien nodded again. The man waved his hand lazily and the ropes disappeared, along with the gag in Adrien's mouth.

" _Don't say a word_ ," the man snarled, and Adrien closed his mouth. "Thanks. Somehow, you were chosen to be one of the lucky few to be able to meet your soulmate through your dreams. Don't ask me why, I have no fucking clue. Now, the rules are fairly simple. You just have to get close to the girl in the mask without revealing that it's you, Adrien Agreste. You'll also have to wear a mask, I'm afraid. You're allowed to use any means necessary to achieve your goal. In fact, subterfuge is highly encouraged. Each participant is assigned a guardian-you, me-" the man pointed at Adrien with a clawed finger, then at himself, "-who is responsible for their charge. If you both figure out the identity of the other person within a certain time period, then congratulations, you've just found the true love of your life, and that's great for me, because then my sentence will be lifted and I get to go back home. It's a win-win for both you and me. Got it?"

Adrien studied the man for a moment. "So," he said slowly, eyeing the metal baton at the man's side and the leather belt the man insisted on swinging around, "you're not here to kidnap me or anything?"

The man dropped his face into his palms. "Ra Almighty. What part of "guardian angel" do you not understand? He growled. "I swear on the Nile, Tikki, next time, I'm getting first pick. I hate babysitting the idiots." Slitted green eyes looked balefully at the blond boy.

"You just told me that you'd help me find the true love of my life," Adrien said, disbelief coloring his voice. "And I have to seduce her while wearing a mask. Through my dreams."

The man looked up so quickly that the little bell on his collar jingled. "Yes, the boy gets it!" He crowed.

"What are the odds of the two of us finding each other's identity if we have no idea who the other person might be? It could be anyone!"

The man shrugged. "It's ordained by Fate. Lady Luck and all that." He waved his hand dismissively. "You'll find out, sooner or later. It should be someone you've already come across, anyway."

"...you're kidding me, right?" Adrien crossed his arms and glared at the man.

"Just when I think I find someone worth my time..." the man sighed. "My expectations of you humans are obviously way too high." He stared at Adrien with dead eyes. "Of course not, Sherlock. Why would I spend a perfectly good Saturday night talking to you when I could be doing other things?"

Adrien had nothing to say to that.

"Believe me, if I was in charge, I'd skip this stupid masquerade business and just ship the two of you off to your honeymoon without putting you through the wringer. Life is hard enough as it is," the man said bitterly, "but _nooo_. The shitty old man just _has_ to dig his heels in and make sure that each match is just _perfect_. 'No more arranged marriages,' he says. 'They need to talk over their differences and get to know each other' and all that. Senile fool. Look at the last time you did this, I tell him, you killed off both kids and a bunch of their friends and caused extensive property damage, and on top of it, wasn't the girl underage? Of course, Tikki just passed it off as 'tragic circumstances,' and Master always sides with Tikki nowadays. No one listens to me, anyway. It's fucking unfair, that's what it is."

"No offense, but who are you?" Adrien cut off the man in the middle of his diatribe. This was rather rude, but Adrien was getting cranky and the man was getting annoying. He wanted answers, goddammit.

The man rose from the bed and bowed mockingly. "God of misfortune and CAT-astrophy, pun-master extraordinaire," he purred. "Plagg, at your service. By the way, thanks for summoning me in this form. I haven't been a human in ages."

"...that's my cat's name," Adrien realized belatedly. Plagg rolled his eyes.

"Gee, I wonder why," Plagg said sarcastically. "Speaking of which, you'd better reward me with some Camembert later. I haven't forgiven you just yet for that atrocious dinner." A sharp beep sounded, and Plagg winced. "We're now officially out of time," he said, ignoring Adrien's impression of a gaping goldfish. He consulted a small pocket mirror that appeared out of nowhere. "Tikki's done on her side." He snapped his fingers again and made a complicated gesture that looked like he was drawing figure eights in the air. Moments later, a black masquerade mask and a hairband with cat ears dropped into Adrien's lap.

"Put those on, kid," Plagg directed. "If she asks, your name is Chat Noir. I'll be opening the portal to the dreamworld, so get ready." Adrien promptly obeyed.

"Um, Plagg?"

"What? If you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy here. Alright, put your left foot in first." Adrien hesitated.

"...how should I talk to her?"

"Are you shitting me right now? You're a supermodel, you should know. Just bat your eyes or something. How would I know anything about the intricacies of human mating?"

"...I can't talk to girls."

"Are you fucking serious? You've had at least one girlfriend, I should know. That blond chick with the shitty temper and the nice legs."

"For the last time, Chloe is just a friend."

"...I can't believe this. Why do I get the incompetent ones? I just want to finish this stupid assignment and go HOME," Adrien heard Plagg wail before the world around him spiraled into grey nothingness.

* * *

 

**Questions? Concerns? Write 'em in the review box below and I'll get back to you.**


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